Shaken by recent high-profile murders, concerned residents also on Tuesday began a series of community meetings taking aim at area gang crime. Neighbors want to reclaim a friendly atmosphere that once thrived along Salt Lake City's west edge.
"We're honestly afraid at times of getting shot in our front yard," said Randy Doyle, whose family lives near 1400 West and 800 South.
"Cars drive by, the gang bangers are staring at you," he said. "You can't even let your kids walk out the front door."
Frustration over shootings, stabbings, graffiti, prostitution and other petty crime on blocks surrounding the Doyle's home prompted the Glendale man and his wife to organize a neighborhood watch group. On Tuesday, a handful of people gathered in the Doyle's front yard to listen as Salt Lake City police Detective Rick Wall encouraged residents to report suspicious behavior to authorities.
The neighborhood watch group's first meeting came the same day as Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller's office filed adult first-degree felony aggravated murder and obstruction of justice charges against two 16-year-olds as well as 20-year-old Frank Benavidez - all suspected in the July 6 killing of Maria Menchaca as she played outside her Glendale home.
Benavidez could face the death penalty for the crime; the teens could get up to life in prison without parole.
According to charging documents, Benavidez shouted the following threat to Maria's 20-year-old cousin, Luis Menchaca, on the day of the shooting: "I'm going to kill you and your family." Later that day he drove by the home in a black sport utility vehicle, from which 16-year-old Gabriel Alvarez allegedly shot and killed the girl with the one shot he was able to fire before his gun jammed.
The documents say Mae Johnson, 16, handed Alvarez the gun and held three shells while Alvarez tried to fix the firearm. The three suspects then allegedly drove to the home of a fellow gang member and stashed the gun.
Another passenger in the vehicle was released after it was determined the 16-year-old girl played no role in the crime, said Miller on Tuesday. Miller refused to name either of the rival gangs at odds shortly before the 7-year-old's death, but she pleaded for gang members to let authorities deal with the situation.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said Tuesday at a morning news conference announcing the charges the murder has had a dramatic impact on the entire community, including police officers. The department is trying to identify gang members and do something, long before issues escalate, by contacting schools, families and religious institutions, he said.
"We need better intervention," Burbank said.
Hours later, Salt Lake City police announced U.S. Marshals in Ensenada, Mexico, had nabbed Miguel Mateos-Martinez, who had been on the marshals' list of "Top 15 Most Wanted Fugitives" since he allegedly shot and killed 24-year-old Glendale hairdresser Faviola Hernandez in front of her young brother and sister during an August 2007 robbery.
Police said the arrest took place without incident near a Mexican residence where Mateos-Martinez was staying. Mateos-Martinez reportedly fled to Mexico days after the shooting, but police said they weren't sure if he had stayed there the whole time - only that he had been living there for at least a couple of months before he was caught.
Mateos-Martinez is being held in a Mexico City prison, and Salt Lake City Councilman Van Turner said it would take about six months to bring him back to Utah.
A Salt Lake City jury found getaway-car driver Jesus A. Jimenez, 23, guilty in connection with the murder last month. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced in August.
The Hernandez family rejoiced at the news of Mateos-Martinez's arrest. More than a dozen family members wore black T-shirts displaying photos of Faviola to a Tuesday news conference.
"I'm happy and sad because I know that she's never going to come back. But at least we have peace," said Hernandez's mother, Rosa Hernandez. "We are happy that he is going to pay for what he did."
Rosa Hernandez said her son Jose was going to get his bicycle right away - he had been afraid to ride for the past 11 months out of fear that Mateos-Martinez would shoot him as well.
Rosa added that she hasn't been able to move her daughter Faviola's belongings from where she last left them. She wants everything to stay intact, including her last memory of Faviola.
''She walked through the door and said, 'I love you, I'll call you right back,' but she never called back,'' her mother said.
sgehrke@sltrib.com
abreton@sltrib.com
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* MELINDA ROGERS contributed to this report.
* Maria Menchaca, 7, had just left a neighbor's birthday party on July 6 and was playing with other children on the street corner outside her Glendale home when she was shot and killed. Police say a 16-year-old gang member opened fire from a passing sports utility vehicle and fatally shot the girl after threats had been made to her cousin earlier that day.
* Faviola Hernandez, 24, was killed Aug. 15, 2007, at Glendale's Bushwacker Hair and Tanning salon in Glendale. Police say Miguel Mateos-Martinez fatally shot Hernandez in front of her younger siblings while trying to rob the salon. The getaway car driver, Jesus A. Jimenez, 23, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced next month.
* Today: Glendale Community Council meeting, 7 p.m., the Dual Immersion School, 1155 Glendale Drive.
* Thursday: Town hall meeting on gangs, 3 p.m., Centro Civico Mexicano, 155 S. 600 West.
